‘Spamilton’ almost as good as the real thing

What a nice surprise to see a parody show that nearly matches the speed, virtuosity and technical brilliance of the source material. “Spamilton” has a silly name and silly premise, but a joke of a show it is not. Created by Gerard Alessandrini and playing at the Hobby Center’s smaller theater through June 9, it’s a fast-moving musical romp with some wonderfully unexpected moments of commentary about the musical-theater industry.

The show features almost nonstop singing. With actor Adrian Lopez as Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Spamilton” tells the story of Miranda’s rise to fame with his musical “Hamilton” — from conception to casting to execution and Miranda’s post-“Hamilton” life as a national celebrity. The story’s told through hilariously rewritten “Hamilton” songs.

The parody songs bear the technical achievement of a Weird Al Yankovic composition. Actors Marissa Hecker (the swing who performed on Tuesday night) and Datus Puryear are terrific as Leading Ladies and Leslie Odom Jr., respectively. Here’s the key factor — they sing the music of “Hamilton” exceptionally. This is a big deal.

When I saw “Potted Potter” in this same auditorium in December, I expected that the show would feel created for the Harry Potter fan. That show didn’t deliver on its promise. Its jokes had nothing to do with “Harry Potter,” and the execution was neither inspired by nor aiming to please the obsessive nature of most “Harry Potter” fans.

‘Spamilton’

“Spamilton,” on the other hand, recognizes how intensely the prototypical “Hamilton” fan loves “Hamilton.” The show doesn’t screw up the source material. We get singers who can pull off the emotional flourishes of “Helpless,” a Miranda who can rap energetically over “Alexander Hamilton” and a cast that can harmonize over “My Shot.”

The lyrics are rewritten to tell the meta-story of the creation and rise of “Hamilton.” I loved the parody of “The Room Where It Happens.” It’s called “The Film When It Happens” and features fictional versions of “Hamilton” stars Odom and Daveed Diggs lamenting that they’ll be passed over for the inevitable Hollywood treatment.

They name Shia LaBeouf, Neil Patrick Harris and Russell Crowe as the likely stars, a jab at the unimaginative, celebrity-driven casting practices of the movie industry. This is the kind of inside-baseball humor that someone who buys a ticket to a “Hamilton” parody appreciates.

The creators know that “Hamilton” fans love great melodic compositions in the mouths of talented singers. They know that the average “Spamilton” viewer may have seen or heard the entire soundtrack more than 20 times. The humor here, then, cuts deep and operates on the assumption that you know who, say, Phillipa Soo is.

Some of the songs, in fact, are parodies of other works in the musical-theater pantheon. This is humor that knows its audience — musical-theater geeks — and isn’t afraid to wink and nod as it makes jokes about Ben Brantley and Liza Minnelli.

Sometimes a Stephen Sondheim lampoon will come crashing into the middle of a “Hamilton” overture a little too fast, making it feel like the creators wanted to work in some pre-written (but excellent) parody music that has nothing to do with “Hamilton.”

But that’s perfectly fine. It’s not filler if it’s funny. We all love musical theater here, the show assumes, and we’re all going to laugh as Barbra Streisand announces the nominees for toppling “The Book of Mormon” for best musical of the century (“Hamilton,” “Hamilton,” “Yentl” and “Hamilton”), then announces the winner as “La La Land.”

There are also nods to “West Side Story” and “Gypsy” and “Annie” and so many more jokes that can exist only in a musical made by and for theater geeks. When a production is as obsessed with musical theater as “Spamilton” is, watching it turns into a bit of a game — where the more you know about Broadway, the more hilarious and enjoyable the show becomes.

Wei-Huan Chen is theater critic and arts/culture writer for the Houston Chronicle. He splits his time between critiquing performing arts and reporting on the city's myriad cultures and phenomena. His subjects include theater, film, music and inclusion/representation in the arts.

Before arriving at the Chronicle in 2016, he worked for the Indianapolis Star, the Lafayette Journal & Courier, the Needham Times and the Boston Phoenix. Chen is a 2016 National Critics Institute Fellow at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. He has won many awards for his writing on the arts, including First place from the Texas Associated Press Media Editors for Criticism.

One of the few full-time Asian-American arts critics currently working at a large metro daily, Chen writes and speaks frequently about diversity and criticism. He has spoken on the topic at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, the Asian American Journalists Association National Convention, New York City's BroadwayCon, the Theatre Communications Group National Conference and for American Theatre Magazine's podcast, "Offscript."

Chen once auditioned for "The Bachelorette" and wrote about it. He did not receive a callback.